94-564: Lancelot Pease Clark (30 April 1936 – 27 February 2018), was an English shoemaker, businessman, and member of the Clark family, which is the majority owner of shoe retailer Clarks which they had founded in the 1820s. Clark was born in Street, Somerset into the sixth generation of the Clarks shoemaking family. He was educated at Leighton Park School and New College, Oxford . While working in
188-462: A Quaker meeting house. Early in the 19th century, gunpowder was used to dislodge further stones and the site became a quarry. The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 stopped further damage to the site and led to the first historical and archaeological surveys. The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey were purchased by the Bath and Wells Diocesan Trust in 1908. The ruins are now the property of and managed by
282-668: A Roman road were excavated in the early 20th century on the flood-plain of the river Brue between Glastonbury and Street. The parish churchyard is on the first flood-free ground near the river Brue and was probably the first land to be inhabited. The form of the large churchyard suggests a lan , a sacred area of a kind that was built in the first half of the 6th century. Llan or Lan is a common place name element in Brythonic languages such as Welsh , Cornish , Breton , Cumbric , and possibly Pictish . The original meaning of llan in Welsh
376-539: A charter from 1330 formerly in the British Museum . The word is the Old English straet meaning 'Roman road'. The centre of Street is where Lower Leigh hamlet was, and the road called Middle Leigh and the community called Overleigh are to the south of the village. In the 12th century, a causeway from Glastonbury was built to transport stone from what is now Street for rebuilding Glastonbury Abbey after
470-552: A connection between the abbey and either Arthur's grave or Avalon. The fact that the search for Arthur's body is connected to Henry II and Edward I, both kings who fought major Welsh wars, has had scholars suggest that propaganda may have played a part as well. Gerald, a constant supporter of royal authority, in his account of the discovery clearly aims to destroy the idea of the possibility of King Arthur's messianic return: "Many tales are told and many legends have been invented about King Arthur and his mysterious ending. In their stupidity
564-738: A display of Street fossils in the Natural History Museum in London. The churchyard of the Parish Church has yielded one Iron Age coin, however the origin and significance is unclear, although the Dobunni were known to have produced coins in the area. A number of Roman pottery fragments, now in the Museum of Somerset . Remains of Roman villas exist on the south edge of Street near Marshalls Elm and Ivythorn. Buried remains of
658-497: A frontage that includes the clock tower and water tower, but shoes are no longer manufactured there. Instead, in 1993, redundant factory buildings were converted to form Clarks Village , the first purpose-built factory outlet in the United Kingdom. Despite strong concerns being voiced by local retailers at the time, the retail outlets have not led to a demise of the existing shops. The Shoe Museum provides information about
752-557: A major fire in 1184. The causeway is about 100 yards (90 m) north of a Roman road running north from Ilchester . It will be seen that the name of the village predates the building of the causeway by more than four hundred years, and so the village is named after the Roman road and not the causeway. The parish of Street was part of the Whitley Hundred . Quarries of the local blue lias stone were worked from as early as
846-616: A new channel was constructed westwards into Meare Pool north of Meare , and further westwards to Mark Moor . The Brue Valley Living Landscape is a conservation project based on the Somerset Levels and Moors and managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust . The Walton and Ivythorn Hills biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of the village lies at the end of the Polden Hills . This site
940-401: A population of 12,709 in 2021. On a dry spot in the Somerset Levels , at the end of the Polden Hills , it is two miles (three kilometres) southwest of Glastonbury . There is evidence of Roman occupation. Much of the history of the village is dominated by Glastonbury Abbey , and a 12th-century causeway from Glastonbury built to transport local Blue Lias stone to it. The Society of Friends
1034-464: A prime prize. William the Conqueror made Turstinus a Norman abbot there in 1086. Turstinus added to the church, unusually building to the east of the older Saxon church and away from the ancient cemetery, thus shifting the sanctified site. This was later changed by Herlewin, the next abbot, who built a larger church. Not all the new Normans were suitable heads of religious communities. In 1086, when
SECTION 10
#17328014327761128-527: A series of acrimonious disputes between Glastonbury and the Dean and Chapter of Wells Cathedral . The abbey required fish on Fridays , fast days and during Lent . As many as 5000 eels were landed in a typical year. In 1184, a great fire at Glastonbury destroyed the monastic buildings. Reconstruction began almost immediately and the Lady Chapel , which includes the well, was consecrated in 1186. There
1222-630: A signatory to the Act of Supremacy that made Henry VIII the head of the church, resisted and was hanged, drawn and quartered as a traitor on Glastonbury Tor on 15 November 1539. After the Dissolution, two of the abbey's manors in Wiltshire were sold by the Crown to John Thynne and thereafter descended in his family, who much later became Marquesses of Bath . The Thynnes have preserved many of
1316-595: A stone church be built in 712, the foundations of which form the west end of the nave. A glassworks was established at the site during the 7th century. Glastonbury was affected by unrest due to the Danish incursions into the area in the 9th century and it may itself have been attacked during the wars (though this is not certain). The contemporary reformed soldier Saint Neot was sacristan at Glastonbury before he founded his own establishment in Somerset. The abbey church
1410-537: A venue for films, exhibitions and live performances. The Anglican Parish Church of The Holy Trinity dates from the 14th century and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building . The settlement's earliest known name is Lantokay, meaning the sacred enclosure of Kea , a Celtic saint . The place-name 'Street' is first attested in Anglo-Saxon charters from 725 and 971, where it appears as Stret . It appears as Strete juxta Glastone in
1504-615: A visit from Henry VII , who visited the abbot in a royal progress, as he visited any other great territorial magnate. The conditions of life in England during the Wars of the Roses became so unsettled that a wall was built around the abbey's precincts. The George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn was built in the late 15th century to accommodate visitors to the abbey. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building . The abbey also held lands outside
1598-410: A visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It was destroyed by a major fire in 1184, but subsequently rebuilt and by the 14th century was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England. The abbey controlled large tracts of the surrounding land and was instrumental in major drainage projects on the Somerset Levels . The abbey was suppressed during
1692-530: Is "an enclosed piece of land", but it later evolved to mean the parish surrounding a church. One biography of St Gildas has the saint spending some time in Glastonbury Abbey, and moving to a site by the river, where he built a chapel to the Holy Trinity and there died. The Parish Church, now Holy Trinity, has at times been known as St Gildas' church. Glastonbury Abbey controlled Street until
1786-529: Is also of interest. It is adjacent to the East Polden Grasslands which has typical examples of species-rich, unimproved, calcareous grassland with scrub and amongst the many plant species found in this habitat is the early gentian ( Gentianella anglica ), which is endemic to Britain. Its other main interest lies in its suitability as a habitat for the large blue butterfly ( Phengaris arion ), which has been successfully reintroduced onto
1880-503: Is also open to the public, outside the walls, as part of the Somerset Rural Life Museum . The great church was 220 feet (67 m) in length and 45 feet (14 m) wide. The choir was 155 feet (47 m) long and the transept was 160 feet (49 m) long. St Joseph's chapel was 110 feet (34 m) long and 24 feet (7.3 m) wide. The remaining portions are of the clerestory and triforium arcades, which were
1974-531: Is described as "one of the best preserved medieval kitchens in Europe". The 14th century octagonal building is supported by curved buttresses on each side leading up to a cornice with grotesque gargoyles. Inside are four large arched fireplaces with smoke outlets above them, with another outlet in the centre of the pyramidal roof. The kitchen was attached to the 80 feet (24 m) high abbot's hall, although only one small section of its wall remains. The analysis of
SECTION 20
#17328014327762068-478: Is evidence that, in the 12th century, the ruined nave was renovated enough for services while the great new church was being constructed. Parts of the walls of the aisle and crossing having been completed by 1189, progress then continued more slowly. Pilgrim visits had fallen and in 1191 the alleged discovery of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere 's tomb in the cemetery provided fresh impetus for visiting Glastonbury. A contemporaneous, though not an eyewitness, account
2162-662: Is from the south-west. The Society of Friends established itself here in the mid-17th century, and among the close-knit group of Quaker families were the Clarks: Cyrus Clark started a business in sheepskin rugs, later joined by his brother James, who introduced the production of woollen slippers and then boots and shoes. Under James's son, William, the business flourished, and most of the profits were ploughed back into employee welfare, housing and education. C&J Clark still has its headquarters in Street, behind
2256-591: Is in the Glastonbury and Somerton parliamentary constituency, which elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system. The current MP is Sarah Dyke , elected in 2024, of the Liberal Democrats. Street is twinned with Isny im Allgäu , a town in south-eastern Baden-Württemberg , (Germany), and Notre Dame de Gravenchon in Normandy, France. Both twinnings are announced on
2350-620: Is owned and managed by the National Trust . Walton and Ivythorn Hills support a complex mosaic of semi-natural habitats which includes unimproved calcareous grassland, dense and scattered scrub and broadleaved woodland. Structural diversity within the habitats, together with the extensive areas of sheltered wood-edge and scrub-edge margins provide ideal conditions for many species of invertebrate . Butterflies , leafhoppers , spiders and soldier flies are particularly well represented. The great green bush cricket ( Tettigonia viridissima )
2444-561: Is part of The University of Plymouth Colleges network . At the edge of village is Millfield School , an independent co-educational boarding school which currently caters for 1,260 pupils, of which 910 are boarders. It was founded in 1935 by Boss Meyer , in the house and grounds originally owned by the Clark family, who owned and ran the major shoe manufacturer Clarks . Street has a Non-League football club Street F.C. who play at The Tannery. Street has two public swimming pools, one indoor and one outdoor. The indoor pool forms part of
2538-549: Is the source for much of our knowledge of the abbey's early history but is far below William's generally excellent standards: his acceptance of the monks' forged charters and unsubstantiated early legends is apparent and even his list of the community's abbots cannot be reconciled with 10th-century originals subsequently discovered. These problems and the discrepancies between "On the Antiquity" and his own later histories has led many scholars to assume that William's original text
2632-584: The Anglican , Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The abbey site is visited by over 100,000 a year. The ruins of the great church, along with the Lady Chapel, are grade I listed buildings , and a Scheduled Ancient Monument . It is set in 36 acres (150,000 m ) of parkland and open to the public. It is approached by the abbey gatehouse, which was built in the mid 14th century and completely restored in 1810. The 14th century abbey barn
2726-733: The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra . In 1999 the theatre was expanded with a new foyer, bar and box office along with improved rehearsal space and stage access, at a cost of £750,000 by the Steel, Coleman Davis partnership who received an award for the design. The expansion was funded by the Arts Council England . The village is on the route of the Samaritans Way South West . The Anglican Parish Church of The Holy Trinity dates from
2820-582: The Dissolution . Sharpham Park is a 300-acre (120 ha) historic park, approximately two miles (three kilometres) west of Street, which dates back to the Bronze Age . The first known reference is a grant by King Edwy to the then Aethelwold in 957. In 1191 Sharpham Park was conferred by the soon-to-be King John to the Abbots of Glastonbury, who remained in possession of the park and house until
2914-627: The Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. From 1539 to 1707 the park was owned by the Duke of Somerset , Sir Edward Seymour , brother of Queen Jane ; the Thynne family of Longleat , and the family of Sir Henry Gould . Sir Edward Dyer the Elizabethan poet and courtier (died 1607) was born here in 1543. The house is now a private residence and Grade II* listed building . Sharpham was also
Lance Clark - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-483: The Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII of England . The last abbot, Richard Whiting (Whyting), was hanged, drawn and quartered as a traitor on Glastonbury Tor in 1539. From at least the 12th century, the Glastonbury area has been associated with the legend of King Arthur , a connection promoted by medieval monks who asserted that Glastonbury was Avalon . Christian legends have claimed that
3102-559: The Domesday Book was commissioned, Glastonbury Abbey was the richest monastery in the country. About 1125, the abbot Henry of Blois commissioned a history of Glastonbury from the historian William of Malmesbury , who was a guest of the monks. His work "On the Antiquity of the Glastonese Church" was compiled sometime between 1129 and 1139 as part of a campaign to establish the abbey's primacy against Westminster . It
3196-521: The Hettangian stage. It is the lowest of the three divisions of the Lower Jurassic period and, as such, is also given the name Lower Lias . It consists of thin blue argillaceous, or clay-like, limestone. The Blue Lias contains many fossils , especially ammonites . Fossils discovered in the lias include many ichthyosaurs , one of which has been adopted as the badge of Street. There is
3290-571: The Holy Grail story and Glastonbury's connection with King Arthur from the early-12th century. William of Malmesbury reports the terms of a grant of land made by King Gwrgan of Damnonia to the "old church" at Glastonbury in AD 601 in the time of Abbot Worgret. Glastonbury fell into Saxon hands after the Battle of Peonnum in 658. Saxons under Cenwalh of Wessex conquered Somerset as far west as
3384-601: The River Parrett , perhaps with the intention of gaining control of the abbey. Cenwalh allowed the British abbot, Bregored , to remain in power, a move perhaps intended as a show of good faith to the defeated Britons. After Bregored's death in 669, he was replaced by an Anglo-Saxon, Berhtwald , but British monks remained for many years. King Ine of Wessex enriched the endowment of the community of monks established at Glastonbury and reputed to have directed that
3478-638: The Somerset Levels . The vegetation consists of wet and dry heath, species-rich bog and carr woodland, with transitions between all these habitats. Rare ferns present include marsh fern ( Thelypteris palustris ) and royal fern ( Osmunda regalis ). Old peat workings and rhynes have a wetland community which includes bulrush ( Typha latifolia ), yellow flag iris ( pseudacorus ), cyperus-like sedge ( Carex pseudocyperus ) and lesser bur-reed ( Sparganium natans ). Insects recorded include 33 species of butterflies , 200 moths and 12 grasshoppers and crickets , with several notable rarities. Birds breeding in
3572-483: The non-metropolitan district of Mendip , which was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , and is responsible for local planning and building control , local roads, council housing , environmental health , markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling , cemeteries and crematoria , leisure services, parks, and tourism. There are currently three electoral wards of
3666-526: The 12th century to the end of the 19th century. It is a geological formation in southern England, part of the Lias Group . The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassic times, between 195 and 200 million years ago. Its age corresponds to the Rhaetian to lower Sinemurian stages of the geologic timescale , thus fully including
3760-578: The 14th century but underwent extensive restoration in the 19th century. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building . The chancel pre dates the rest of the building, having been built about 1270. The first recorded Rector was John de Hancle in 1304. The parish is linked with Street Mission Church in Vestry Road and the church in Walton . There is also a Baptist church on Glaston Road. The Quaker Friends Meeting House
3854-440: The 20th-century archaeological investigations have recently been published along with the results of a new geophysical survey. The abbey library was described by John Leland , King Henry VIII's antiquary who visited it, as containing unique copies of ancient histories of England and unique early Christian documents. It seems to have been affected by the fire of 1184, but still housed a remarkable collection until 1539 when it
Lance Clark - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-476: The Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction
4042-483: The British [i.e. Welsh, Cornish and Bretons] people maintain that he is still alive. Now that the truth is known, I have taken the trouble to add a few more details in this present chapter. The fairy-tales have been snuffed out, and the true and indubitable facts are made known, so that what really happened must be made crystal clear to all and separated from the myths which have accumulated on the subject." In 1197, Savaric FitzGeldewin , Bishop of Bath and Wells , traded
4136-471: The Glastonbury Abbey trust. On acquiring the site the trust appointed Frederick Bligh Bond to direct an archaeological investigation. Bond discovered the Edgar Chapel, North Porch and St Dunstan's Chapel, however relations with his employers turned sour when he revealed in his 1919 book, The Gates of Remembrance , that he had made many of his interpretations in collaboration with a psychic medium . He
4230-729: The Mendip Council in Street which elect councillors every four years. As of 2010 the two councillors for Street North are both Liberal Democrats , Street West has one Liberal Democrat councillor and Street South is represented by two councillors one of which is a Liberal Democrat and the other is independent of any political party. Somerset County Council is responsible for the largest and most expensive local services such as education , social services , libraries , main roads, public transport, policing and fire services , trading standards , waste disposal and strategic planning. The total population equates to that shown above. Street
4324-526: The Strode complex. The outdoor pool, Greenbank, is open daily from early May until mid September each year. The only single use cinema in Street was closed down and converted into a nightclub in the 1990s. Strode Theatre , linked to the Crispin School and Strode College complex, is now the only place to see films, exhibitions and live performances. It opened on 5 October 1963 with a performance by
4418-498: The abbey and the bishops. The monks of Glastonbury objected to Savaric's plan, and sent an appeal to Rome, which was dismissed in 1196. But King Richard, no longer imprisoned in Germany, sided with the monks, and allowed them to elect an abbot, William Pica, in place of Savaric, who responded by excommunicating the new abbot. With the succession of John as king in place of his brother Richard in 1199, Savaric managed to force his way into
4512-545: The abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century. Suggestions that Glastonbury may have been a site of religious importance in Celtic or pre-Celtic times are considered dubious by the historian Ronald Hutton , but archaeological investigations by the University of Reading have demonstrated Roman and Saxon occupation of the site. In 1955 Ralegh Radford 's excavations uncovered Romano-British pottery at
4606-404: The abbey's Wiltshire records at Longleat up to the present day. The ruins of the abbey itself was stripped of lead and dressed stones hauled away to be used in other buildings. The site was granted by Edward VI to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset who established a colony of Protestant Dutch weavers on the site. When Seymour was attainted in 1551, the abbey site reverted to the crown, but
4700-467: The abbey, but later it was used to transport produce, including grain, wine and fish, from the abbey's outlying properties. Much of the building stone came from the abbey's quarries at Doulting , accessed by way of the River Sheppey at Pilton . From the 11th century, the abbey was the centre of a large water-borne transport network as further canalisations and new channels were made, including
4794-406: The abbot of Glastonbury that was also used for salting and preparing fish. It is the only surviving monastic fishery building in England. At the time of the Dissolution in 1540, Meare Pool was said to contain a great abundance of pike , tench , roach and eels . In 1638, it was owned by William Freake, who described it as "lately a fish pool". The importance of this industry is illustrated by
SECTION 50
#17328014327764888-472: The abbot of Glastonbury was recorded as inspecting enclosed land at Lympsham . Efforts to control flooding on the Parrett were recorded around the same date. In 1234, 722 acres (2.9 km ) were reclaimed near Westonzoyland and, from the accounts in the abbey's rent books, this had increased to 972 acres (393 ha) by 1240. In the 14th century a Fish House was built at Meare for the chief fisherman of
4982-576: The ages of 11 and 16 years enrolled. In 1997 it became the first Beacon School in Somerset. It is a Technology College and has a second specialism as a Language College . The school shares its campus with Strode College , a tertiary institution and further education college which provides education for 16+ students after they leave secondary school, these courses are usually A-levels or Business and Technology Education Councils (BTECs). The college also provides education for older/mature students, and provides some university level courses. The college
5076-543: The authenticity of the find, attributing it to a publicity stunt performed to raise funds to repair the Abbey, which was mostly burned in 1184. William of Malmesbury 's history of the English kings stated "Arthur's grave is nowhere seen, whence antiquity of fables still claims that he will return" and his work "On the Antiquity of the Glastonese Church" —larded as it is with known and suspected pious forgeries —nowhere mentions
5170-472: The birthplace of the novelist and dramatist Henry Fielding (1707–54), and the cleric William Gould . Ivythorn Manor on Pages Hill was a medieval monastic house. It was rebuilt in 1488 for Abbot John Selwood of Glastonbury Abbey. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries it became a manor house owned by the Marshall and Sydenham families. Sir John Sydenham added a wing 1578 which was later demolished. By 1834
5264-462: The buildings had been seized by the Crown to be sold off or leased to new lay occupants. Glastonbury Abbey was reviewed as having significant amounts of silver and gold as well as its attached lands. In September 1539, the abbey was visited by Richard Layton , Richard Pollard and Thomas Moyle , who arrived there without warning on the orders of Thomas Cromwell . The abbey was stripped of its valuables and Abbot Richard Whiting (Whyting), who had been
5358-490: The carr woodland include the local willow tit Merriman Park is named after Nathaniel James Merriman (1809-1882). He was Curate then Vicar of Street, until he emigrated to South Africa. He rose to become Archdeacon of Grahamstown then Dean of Cape Town before being elevated the Episcopate . Along with the rest of South West England , Street has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than
5452-546: The city of Bath to the king in return for the monastery of Glastonbury. Savaric secured the support of Pope Celestine III for the takeover the abbey as the seat of his bishopric, replacing Bath . The plan was that Savaric would be bishop of Bath as well as abbot of Glastonbury. In his support, Savaric obtained letters from various ecclesiastics, including the Archbishop of Canterbury , Hubert Walter , that claimed that this arrangement would settle longstanding disputes between
5546-659: The diversion of the Brue to access to the estate at Meare and an easier route to the Bristol Channel . In the 13th century, the abbey's head boatman transported the abbot in an eight-oared boat on visits to the abbey's nearby manors. During the Middle Ages, bone fragments of Saint Caesarius of Terracina were translated to Glastonbury Abbey. At the Norman Conquest in 1066, the wealth of Glastonbury made it
5640-549: The family business, he was managing director of Clarks UK, prior to the business being placed under non-family management. He is credited with the creation of the Wallabee shoe in 1965. After retiring from Clarks, Clark went on to work with the Edward Green and Terra Plana shoe brands. As of 2017, the Clark family still owned more than 80 per cent of the company, according to The Sunday Times . Lancelot Clark's branch of
5734-458: The family collectively owned about 25 per cent. In 2008, Clark set up ethical footwear brand Soul of Africa, which raises money for South African orphans who have lost their parents to AIDS . Based in Street, Somerset for much of his life, Clark was a painter. He had seven children in total. Street, Somerset Street is a large village and civil parish in Somerset , England, with
SECTION 60
#17328014327765828-472: The history of Clarks and footwear manufacture in general, and a selection of shop display showcards from the 1930s, the 1950s and the 1960s, and television advertisements. The Clark family mansion and its estate at the edge of the village are now owned by Millfield School . The company, through the Society of Friends, also had its own small sanatorium and convalescent home on Ivythorn Hill overlooking
5922-642: The history of Clarks and footwear manufacture in general. The Clark family's former mansion and its estate at the edge of the village are now owned by Millfield School , an independent co-educational boarding school. Street is also home to Crispin School and Strode College . To the north of Street is the River Brue , which marks the boundary with Glastonbury. South of Street are the Walton and Ivythorn Hills and East Polden Grasslands biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest . Strode Theatre provides
6016-518: The house was largely ruined until its restoration around 1904, and a west wing was added in 1938. It is a Grade II* listed building . The parish council is responsible for some local issues, and sets an annual precept (local rate) to cover its council's operating costs. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council also initiates projects for
6110-408: The maintenance and repair of parish facilities, and consults with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council. Having previously been part of Street Urban District, the village now falls within
6204-464: The monastery and set up his episcopal see within the abbey. The monks appealed to Innocent III , the new pope. At first, Innocent took the side of the monks, and lifted Pica's excommunication. While the newest appeal was taking place, Pica and a number of his supporters, who had travelled to Rome to appeal in person, died in Rome in 1200, and some of the monks alleged this was by poison administered on
6298-491: The old station entrance. A number of bus services serve Street including route 376 to Bristol via Wells which is operated by First West of England and runs every hour. It is also served by Berrys Coaches daily 'Superfast' service to and from London. Primary infant/junior schools include Avalon, Brookside, Hindhayes, and Elmhurst. Crispin School is a secondary school teaching 11- to 16-year-old students from Street and many local villages. It has 1084 students between
6392-463: The older tomb by chance while removing the earth to bury a certain monk who had expressed strong desire to be buried there. Both Giraldus and Ralph say that the spot lay in between two pyramids in the abbey. William of Malmesbury does not refer to Arthur's tomb but elaborates on the pyramids of varying height, upon which were statues with inscriptions "Her Sexi, and Bliserh ... Pencrest, Bantomp, Pinepegn, etc." Historians today generally dismiss
6486-513: The orders of Savaric. Meanwhile, Innocent had changed his mind, and reinstalled Savaric as abbot, ordering some English clergy to judge the specifics of the case, and allot the revenues of the abbey between Savaric and the monks. Savaric then attempted to secure more control over other monasteries in his diocese, but died before he could set the plans in motion. The bishops continued to use the title Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury until finally renouncing their claim to Glastonbury in 1219. Services in
6580-558: The original Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway main line from Highbridge to Evercreech Junction until closed in 1966 under the Beeching axe . Opened in 1854 as Glastonbury, and renamed in 1886, it had three platforms, two for Evercreech to Highbridge services and one for the branch service to Wells. The station had a large goods yard controlled from a signal box . The nearest stations are now around 9 miles away, at Castle Cary and Bridgwater. Replica level crossing gates have been placed at
6674-493: The reconsecrated Great Church had begun on Christmas Day, 1213, most likely before it was entirely completed. King Edward I and Queen Eleanor attended the magnificent service at the reburial of King Arthur's remains to the foot of the High Altar in 1278. In the 14th century, only Westminster Abbey was more richly endowed and appointed than Glastonbury. The abbot of Glastonbury kept great estate, now attested to simply by
6768-440: The rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50 °F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C (70 °F). In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 °C (34 °F) or 2 °C (36 °F) are common. In
6862-470: The ruins of the Abbot's Kitchen , with four huge fireplaces at its corners. The kitchen was part of the magnificent abbot's house begun under Abbot John de Breynton (1334–42). It is one of the best preserved medieval kitchens in Europe, and the only substantial monastic building surviving at Glastonbury. Archaeological excavations have revealed a special apartment erected at the south end of the abbot's house for
6956-523: The signs that welcome visitors to Street. The River Brue marks the boundary with Glastonbury, to the north of Street. At the time of King Arthur , the Brue formed a lake just south of the hilly ground on which Glastonbury stands. This lake is one of the locations suggested by Arthurian legend as the home of the Lady of the Lake . Pomparles Bridge stood at the western end of this lake, guarding Glastonbury from
7050-400: The site. There are two nationally scarce grasshopper species present; rufous grasshopper ( Gomphocerippus rufus ) and woodland grasshopper ( Omocestus rufipes ). Several nationally scarce species of moth , beetle , bee and ant also occur. Street Heath is a nature reserve , managed by Somerset Wildlife Trust , and has outstanding examples of communities which were once common on
7144-421: The south, and it was here that Sir Bedivere is thought to have thrown the sword Excalibur into the waters after King Arthur fell at the Battle of Camlann . The old bridge was replaced by a reinforced concrete arch bridge in 1911. Before the 13th century, the direct route to the sea at Highbridge was blocked by gravel banks and peat near Westhay. The course of the river partially encircled Glastonbury from
7238-616: The south, around the western side (through Beckery ), and then north through the Panborough - Bleadney gap in the Wedmore - Wookey Hills, to join the River Axe just north of Bleadney. This route made it difficult for the officials of Glastonbury Abbey to transport produce from their outlying estates to the Abbey, and when the valley of the river Axe was in flood it backed up to flood Glastonbury itself. Sometime between 1230 and 1250,
7332-455: The summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection . Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by
7426-541: The supports of the central square tower. Other fragments of structures which remain include portions of the outer walls of the chancel aisles and the 14th century retroquire . There is also surviving stonework from the south nave aisle wall, west front and the Galilee along with its crypt linked to St Mary's Chapel. The Lady Chapel, from which the walls survive, was described in 1478 as being 34 yards (31 m) in length and 8 yards (7.3 m) wide. The Abbot's Kitchen
7520-409: The title of King of Wessex , was also buried there. Cnut's charter of 1032 was "written and promulgated in the wooden church at Glastonbury, in the king's presence". The medieval Glastonbury Canal was built about the middle of the 10th century to link the abbey with the River Brue , a distance of about 1.75 kilometres (1,900 yd). Its purpose is believed to have been to transport stone to build
7614-417: The town serving large parts of Somerset and including parts of neighbouring counties. Tithe barns were built to hold the crops due to the abbey including those at Doulting , Mells and Pilton . At the start of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, there were over 850 monasteries, nunneries and friaries in England. By 1541, there were none. More than 15,000 monks and nuns had been dispersed and
7708-539: The unmistakably specific inscription Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arturius in insula Avalonia ("Here lies interred the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon "). According to Giraldus, the digging for the tomb was prompted by the intelligence obtained by Henry II from an "aged British (Welsh) bard" ( Latin : historico cantore Britone audierat antiquo ). On the other hand, Ralph of Coggeshall writing somewhat later, states more prosaically that they came upon
7802-600: The village. In 1931, the chalet-style building was leased to the Youth Hostel Association and became the first youth hostel in Somerset. It is still used for this purpose. In Roman times Street was close to the route of the Fosse Way and is now on the route of the modern A39 road which runs from Bath to Cornwall , and the A361 . Glastonbury and Street railway station was the biggest station on
7896-427: The weavers remained until they were removed in the reign of Queen Mary . In 1559 Elizabeth I of England granted the site to Peter Carew , and it remained in private ownership until the beginning of the 20th century. Further stones were removed in the 17th century, so that by the beginning of the 18th century the abbey was described as a ruin. The only building to survive intact is the Abbot's Kitchen , which served as
7990-469: The west end of the cloister. The abbey was founded by Britons and dates at least to the early-7th century. Dark Age occupation of the site is evidenced by pieces of ceramic wine jars that were imported from the Mediterranean. A medieval Christian legend claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century. This legend is intimately tied to Robert de Boron 's version of
8084-464: Was built between 1829 and 1830 by John Buckler from the stones of the abbey ruins for John Fry Reeves . It was altered and extended between 1850 and 1860, with further alterations in 1957. William of Malmesbury suggested that relics relating to others, including the following, were deposited at Glastonbury: A specimen of common hawthorn found at Glastonbury, first mentioned in an early 16th-century anonymous metrical Lyfe of Joseph of Arimathea,
8178-577: Was built in 1850, by J. Francis Cottrell of Bath . The United Reformed Church was built on High Street in 1854–55 and Street Methodist Church built on Leigh Road in 1893. The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Parish of Street. Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury , Somerset , England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument , are open as
8272-659: Was dismissed by Bishop Armitage Robinson in 1921, because of his use of seances and psychic archaeology but is remembered as the man who "galvanised our cultural understanding of Glastonbury". A pilgrimage to the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey was held by a few local churches in 1924. Pilgrimages continue today to be held; in the second half of June for the Anglicans and early in July for the Catholics and they attract visitors from all over Western Europe. Services are celebrated in
8366-482: Was dispersed at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Around 40 of the manuscripts from Glastonbury are known to have survived after the dissolution. Within the abbey wall is Abbey House, which was used by the Diocese of Bath and Wells as a retreat house from 1931 until 2018. It is now occasionally open to the public for special events and provides additional administration space for the Abbey. The Tudor Gothic house
8460-473: Was enlarged in the 10th century by the abbot of Glastonbury, Dunstan , the central figure in the 10th-century revival of English monastic life , who instituted the Benedictine Rule at Glastonbury. He also built the cloisters. Dunstan became Archbishop of Canterbury in 960. In 946, King Edmund was interred at Glastonbury. In 1016 Edmund Ironside , who had lost England to Canute but held onto
8554-418: Was established there by the mid-17th century. One Quaker family, the Clarks, started a business in sheepskin rugs, woollen slippers and, later, boots and shoes. This became C&J Clark which still has its headquarters in Street. In 1993, redundant factory buildings were converted to form Clarks Village , the first purpose-built factory outlet in the United Kingdom. The Shoe Museum provides information about
8648-415: Was given by Giraldus Cambrensis in his De principis instructione ("Instruction of a Prince", c. 1193) and recollected in his Speculum Ecclesiae , c. 1216 according to which the abbot, Henry de Sully , commissioned a search, discovering at the depth of 16 feet (5 m) a massive hollowed oak trunk containing two skeletons. Above it, under the covering stone, according to Giraldus, was a lead cross with
8742-462: Was more careful and its accounts of " Phagan " and " Deruvian ", along with various passages about Arthur , were later additions meant to bolster the monks' case. Early drainage work on the Somerset Levels was carried out in the later years of the 12th century, with the responsibility for maintaining all the watercourses between Glastonbury and the sea being placed on named individuals among whom were Ralph de Sancta Barbara of Brentmarsh. In 1129,
8836-519: Was unusual in that it flowered twice in a year, once as normal on "old wood" in spring, and once on "new wood" (the current season's matured new growth) in the winter. This tree has been widely propagated by grafting or cuttings, with the cultivar name 'Biflora' or 'Praecox'. The custom of sending a budded branch of the Glastonbury thorn to the Queen at Christmas was initiated by James Montague , Bishop of Bath and Wells during James I's reign, who sent
#775224